Fires

We're under a dark cloud at the moment. Not the adage, a literal one. we're told that there's a big bush fire burning in the blue mountains and the easterly wind has blown the smoke across Sydney. I've looked it up, the mountains are 120 km away! It's a strange thing, the light has that pre storm glow to it and car's out on the road have their headlights on despite the fact that it's 3 hours till sunset. I had ash falling on me before I got on the bus to head home. Brit's might be pre-occupied with rainy weather but the Aussies are certainly obsessed about bush fires - especially during warm dry weather - understandable I suppose given the stakes.

Being away from home makes you question things, things you take for granted. The most profound of questions come to mind such as: "Why do Fish and Chip shops have such high counters?" There are Fish and Chip shops here, not surprisingly, and they have standard height counters. All very friendly and welcoming. So why not in the UK?? Perhaps we'll never know!